Response to major earthquakes affecting Gemini twins

Michiel van der Hoeven; Rolando Rogers; Mathew Rippa; Gabriel Perez; Vanessa Montes; Cristian Moreno

doi:10.1117/12.2232161

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15 July 2016 Response to major earthquakes affecting Gemini twins

Michiel van der Hoeven, Rolando Rogers, Mathew Rippa, Gabriel Perez, Vanessa Montes, Cristian Moreno

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Proceedings Volume 9910, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI; 99100R (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232161
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Both Gemini telescopes, in Hawaii and Chile, are located in highly seismic active areas. That means that the seismic protection is included in the structural design of the telescope, instruments and auxiliary structure. We will describe the specific design features to reduce permanent damage in case of major earthquakes. At this moment both telescopes have been affected by big earthquakes in 2006 and 2015 respectively. There is an opportunity to compare the original design to the effects that are caused by these earthquakes and analyze their effectiveness.

The paper describes the way the telescopes responded to these events, the damage that was caused, how we recovered from it, the modifications we have done to avoid some of this damage in future occasions, and lessons learned to face this type of events. Finally we will cover on how we pretend to upgrade the limited monitoring tools we currently have in place to measure the impact of earthquakes.

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Michiel van der Hoeven, Rolando Rogers, Mathew Rippa, Gabriel Perez, Vanessa Montes, and Cristian Moreno "Response to major earthquakes affecting Gemini twins", Proc. SPIE 9910, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VI, 99100R (15 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232161

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